Pattison Lake group wants Thurston County to set up a railroad quiet zone
A group of Pattison Lake area residents are asking Thurston County to help stop loud train horns on and near the water.
The railroad bisects the lake diagonally over a trestle and crosses Atchinson Drive Southeast, a small residential road. The county began considering implementing a railroad quiet zone program earlier this year after residents submitted a petition with more than 200 signatures.
However, the Board of County Commissioners decided 2-1 against pursuing the proposed program during a May 2 meeting. Hours later, several residents spoke during a public comment period, urging the board to consider establishing just one quiet zone on Atchinson Drive.
Brian Muirhead, who lives on Alternate Lane, off the southern point of the lake, said the county should consider quiet zones on a case-by-case basis given the relatively low number of railroad crossings with high traffic near populated areas.
“Atchinson Road is further unique in a sense, because the crossing is over a trestle that is on a lake. The communities around the entire area, it’s a significant area, experience a very high sound level many times a day,” he said.
Trains are required to sound their horns four times 15-20 seconds before a crossing. The horn must sound at a volume between 96 and 110 decibels, according to the Federal Railroad Administration.
For comparison, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 105-110 decibels is similar to a loud rock concert and may cause hearing loss in less than 5 minutes.
Federal data indicates about 44 trains cross Atchinson Drive every 24 hours, meaning residents may hear 176 horns a day.
Jessica DeWitt said she’s recorded 110 decibels at her home on Atchinson Lane. The horns create “significant” health and quality of life issues for her, she added.
“You can’t have an outdoor conversation,” DeWitt said. “Virtual work is impacted. It’s hard to have meetings in the house when train horns are sounding and that’s many, many times during the day. Nighttime sleep is impacted. If children are sleeping during the day, that’s impacted.”
David Nightingale, who lives on Fair Oaks Road, which follows the curve of the lakefront on its southwest side, said their group intends to continue engaging the county on creating a quiet zone despite the board’s recent decision against a program.
“We’ve been working on this issue since 2021, so a year and a half or so,” Nightingale said. “We will continue to work until there doesn’t seem to be any possible path forward.”
Why did the board decide against quiet zones?
The board decided against a quiet zone program after learning about the possible cost of upgrading county road crossings and liability concerns.
A quiet zone would remove the horn requirement if the county built certain safety improvements, said Interim County Engineer Matt Unzelman during an April 26 meeting.
These improvements may include installing curbing, a new crossing arm or even an overpass, Unzelman said. Such an effort could cost the county anywhere from $50,000 to $2 million per local road crossing, depending on the particular roadway, he said.
Thurston County has 39 railroad crossings and 20 of them are on lower-volume local roads, he said. The remainder are on collector or arterial roads.
Staff determined the county could be named in a lawsuit and be found liable for damages if an accident were to occur in a quiet zone, Unzelman said. The county also could lack insurance coverage in such a case, he added.
On May 2, Commissioner Gary Edwards said that he wanted staff to stop working on a potential program for now.
“We have a very limited budget to serve the whole community, let alone a very small slice with a special interest,” Edwards said.
Commissioner Carolina Mejia agreed. She said she thinks any quiet zone implementation should be part of an inclusive program.
“If not, then we are choosing some communities over others and then that leads into a whole lot of equity concerns and issues for me,” Mejia said.
Commissioner Tye Menser only acknowledged he was outvoted on the matter.
This story was originally published May 12, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
